When I last, long ago, wrote about Pirate of the Caribbean, I wrote about the enormous number of plots the writers were dealing with. We left Jack Sparrow for dead, newly re-appointed Commodore Norrington taking his old job back but with a new boss, The East India Trading Company, Will failed to save his father, Elizabeth estranged herself from Will, and, in the last shot, Captain Barbossa comes back from the dead. And let’s not forget Davey Jones, who’s lost control of his one weakness. The filmmakers here dug such a deep hole for themselves it’s difficult to imagine a way to pull them out. The end result is a mess of shifting alliances, secret decisions, and simple confusion. I love it. To unravel this web of stories, let’s start at the beginning.
The first section of this film loosely mirrors the first section of the second movie, Dead Man’s Chest. The whole journey to the Land of the Dead, as Barbossa calls it, or Davey Jones’ Locker, as it’s called at other times, doesn’t really do a whole lot for the story as a whole. Much like Will rescuing Jack from the cannibals, all it serves to do is set the tone for the movie, and get the main characters where they need to be in order to advance the plot. Everything that happens before the Black Pearl emerges back into the real world can, from a plot perspective, be forgotten. For the purposes of the analysis, I will consider the movie to start at the island where Will and the competing captains go to resupply.
Immediately before they go, we see a stand off. Everyone pointing guns at everyone else. It’s ended by Jack, who quickly discovers their guns don’t work, as they’re wet from their previous journey. This is a fascinating point. After all, their guns will dry. Even if they don’t, they’re all armed with swords. There’s no reason to let the fight end here. Yet they don’t, they instead decide to resupply, and take up their argument later. On the surface, this struck me as lazy writing. Why else have these characters threaten each other’s lives, only to have them decide to wait? It seemed a way to extend the length of the movie, nothing more. It wasn’t until I rewatched it that I saw what the point was. Will was the one who pulled the chart out, finding an island to resupply. Will was the one who mediated the fight between Barbossa and Sparrow, as who was to leave the ship. He did it with some humility, his “temporarily” spoke volumes, but he was the instigator. A few minutes later, the captains realize they’ve been had. Will had been planning to steal the Black Pearl all along, since they left Sao Feng’s city, indeed conspiring with Sao Feng to trade off Jack Sparrow in exchange for the Black Pearl. The other characters held off their argument because of Will’s subterfuge. That’s not the only reason. Sparrow needs a willing crew to continue his flight from Davey Jones. Barbossa wants the Black Pearl back. Will just gave them an excuse.
Shortly after this, we see the first of several double crosses. First is Will’s, as he claims the Black Pearl to free his father. He had learned during the last film that the Pearl was the one ship that could outrun Davey Jones, and he stated then that he wanted to fight. However Sao Feng quickly betrays Will for the East India Trading Company. He claims the Pearl from Will. Then the EITC claims the Pearl for itself, betraying Sao Feng. What happens next sets up all the rest of the events of the film. For this, we await part 2.
